One of America’s most versatile tenors and enlightened musicians, George Shirley is in demand nationally and internationally as performer, teacher, and lecturer. He has won international acclaim for his performances with the Metropolitan Opera, and with major opera houses and festivals in England, Germany, Austria, Argentina, the Netherlands, Monte Carlo, Scotland, Italy, Japan, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Santa Fe, and Detroit, among others. Mr. Shirley has recorded for RCA, COLUMBIA, DECCA, ANGEL, VANGUARD, C.R.I, CAPRICCIO, and PHILIPS; he received a GRAMMY AWARD in 1968 for his role (FERRANDO) in the prize-winning RCA recording of Mozart’s COSI FAN TUTTE, which has been re-issued on compact disc.
George Shirley has performed more than 80 operatic roles over the span of his 51-year career, as well as oratorio and concert literature with some of the world’s most renowned orchestras and conductors (Solti, Stravinsky, Leinsdorf, Ormandy, Klemperer, Bernstein, Maazel, Colin Davis, von Karajan, Schippers, Steinberg, Ozawa, et al.). The City of Detroit and the State of Michigan have honored this Wayne State University graduate on numerous occasions. From his Alma Mater Professor Shirley has received the Alumni Association and Arts Achievement Awards, the Organization of Black Alumni Achievement Award, and in April of 2008, he received the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts Ovation Award. He was the first African-American appointed to a high school teaching position in music in Detroit, and later became the first black member of the United States Army Chorus in Washington, DC. He was the first black tenor and second African-American male to sing leading roles with the Metropolitan Opera, where he remained for eleven years as leading artist.
Selected as one of the Distinguished Scholar-Teachers for the school year 1985-86 at the University of Maryland, College Park, George Shirley served as Professor of Voice there from 1980 to 1987. He was invited to join the faculty of the School of Music of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in September 1987, and in 1992, the University’s Board of Regents named him The Joseph Edgar Maddy Distinguished University Professor of Music. He received appointment as Director of the Vocal Arts Division in 1999.
At their January, 2003 National Convention in Washington, D.C., The National Opera Association honored George Shirley with its “Lift Every Voice” Legacy Award, and in 2005 The University of Michigan School of Music Alumni presented Professor Shirley with their Citation of Merit. The following year he received the Dr. Charles H. Wright Legacy Award for Excellence in Fine Arts, a recognition bestowed by the Charles H. Wright African American Museum in Detroit. In March of 2007 he was honored with the Trail Blazer Award from the National Association for the Study and Performance of African American Music. In 2014, he was the recipient of the “National Medal of the Arts and Humanities” presented by President Obama at the White House.
Professor Shirley holds honorary degrees from Wilberforce University, Montclair State College, Lake Forest College, and the University of Northern Iowa. He has served as a Senior Fellow in the University of Michigan Society of Fellows. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Kappa Phi, and Omicron Delta Kappa. He is also a National Patron of Delta Omicron and a member of the American Academy of Teachers of Singing. Current board memberships number those of the Voice Foundation, the Sullivan Foundation, and the Santa Fe Opera. Former board service includes the Board of Directors of the University of Michigan Musical Society, the Executive Board of the Horace H. Rackham Graduate School of the University of Michigan, the National Opera Association, the Michigan Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and the Corporate Board of the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado.
George Shirley was granted emeritus status upon his retirement from The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance in May, 2007. He continues to teach on a part-time basis at the school as well as privately. A native of Indianapolis, Indiana, Mr. Shirley has been married to the visual artist Gladys Ishop Shirley for 54 years. They have two children, three granddaughters, and one great-grandson.